Artificial denture.



A. E. J. GREGG.

ARTIFICIAL DENTURE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1. 19M.

Patented Sept. 14, 1915.

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ADoLrHUsn. J. GREGG; or Los'ANGEnEs. CALIFORNIA.

irisaasei Specification of Letters aunt. Pgitntd Se 1 1915,

To'aZZ whom it mam;

Be it known thatfL AnoLrrrfUs EQJI Grinds,

a citizen of the Unitedjstates, residing at Los Angeles, in the county ofLos Angeles and. State of California, have investmentain new and useful Improvements in-Arti-f olar ridge or to fittheloweralveolar'ridge,"

they being held in place by suction; This method retaining the dentures in placeis more or less satisfactery until the gumsire cede'or until the palatine surface becomes moist. In either ei"ent,"the dentures become loosened causing considerable ii conve niencev to the wearer. Furthermore, the roof of the denture plate, fittingclose tolthe roof of the mouth, materially detracts from the sense of taste. V

It is. one aim of the present invention to provide means whereby an artificial denture 7 may be securely held inplace within the mouth without depending upon .suction force and without likelihood of becoming loosened when the gums recede land which will permit of the roof or 'bo dyportion 0f the denture plate beiiigomitted so that the wearer of the denture may fully enjoy the sense of taste. l

The invention resides, briefly statedfin" providing an artificial denture having resilient labiate portions arranged to securely engage against the sides ofthe alveolar ridge, these portions being so formed that they will not cause inconvenience to the wearer of the'denture and will'yet securely hold the same in place and will readily conform to the gums as the gums recede.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a perspective view of an upper artificial denture constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, a portion of the denture being shown 'in front to rear section. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the denture with parts broken away. Fig. 4: is a vertical transverse sectional view through the rear portion of one side of the denture. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of the springs comprising a member of the holding means for the denture. Fig. 6 is an edge view of the spring. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a lower denture constructed in accordance with the "invention.

Corresponding'and like parts are referred td"infthe fdllowingdescription and indicated in'allthe views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters. will be apparent by reference to the several figuresof' the drawings, the prino1pleofthe invention may be embodied either inan'upper 'ora lower denture, substantially the onlydifference being in the location of the labiate holding portions of the denture. V

In Figs. 1 to 4: inclusive the numeral 1 indicates'th'eroof or body portion of an upper denture plate and2 the sides or-labiate portions of thedentureplate, which are of' 'cornfposite structure as will now be made apparent. The lower portions of the sides 2 are of vulcanite or other suitable material and are integralwith the roof or body pora is embedded "in the iawer' portions of the sides? and the vulcanite or other material from which the said lower portions of the sides and the roof or body portion of the plate are formed, entering the openings 5 serves to securely anchor the spring, the shoulders formed by the widened portion assisting of course in securing this result. The shank 3 is provided at its upper end with a head 6 extending,generally speaking, transversely of the shank and this head may be arcuate or, as before stated, of any other suitable form. It is preferable of course that the entire spring be curved from end to endin the manner shown in Fig. 6 so as to conform as nearly as possible to the contour of the alveolar ridge and the head 6 may be curved from side to side for the same purpose if desired. In fact, it is to be understood that I am not limited to the use of a spring plate but that I may employ wire bent to any desired or suitable form and arranged in any suitable manner and that while the plate is preferably of gold or other suitable metal, it may be of any other material suitable for the purpose and possessing the desired degree of resiliency. Also it will. be

as indicatedby the numeral 7 in Fig. 7 of portions of the drawings, one of the springs is located at the inner side of each condyle. After the springs have been properly united to-the denture, the sides of the denture are filled out or completed bysuitably shaped pieces of soft rubber, indicated by the numeral 8, being vulcanized to the lowerv the rubber:

' the sides, of the plate and the shanks 3 and heads 6 of the springs being embedded in the rubber. 7

From the foregoing descriptioni of 'the invention, it will be seen that the same contemplates providing a denture having resilient and. more or less flexible labiate portions so located uponthe bo'dy of the denture as to; engage against the outer sides of the upper alveolar ridge, 1n the case of an upper denture, and against the inner sides of the lower alveolar, ridge, in the case of a lower denture. It will beunders'tood that the said labiate portions are to be so constructed and formed as to snugly fit against the alveolar ridge in either instance and thereby securely hold the denture in place and against slipping or dropping; 7 It will furthermore be understood that in the case of the upper denture, the roof ofthe denture may be dis pensed with, Alsoit will be apparent that the labiate portions are arranged to engage the gums at points where the gums do not harden and, consequently receding of the gums will not destroy the effectiveness :of these elements, for which reason the dentures'may be fitted sooner after extraction than is possible by the use of the ordinary dentures which depend upon suction force forholding them in place.' It will furthermore be understood that inasmuch as the 1 1. An artificial denture including a body portion, a resilient relatively rigidelement thereon, and'arelatively soft labiate portion dingthe resilient element. 7

artificial denture including a body portion,

inte ral with the-body portion and embeda resilient relatively rigid element having an end anchoredto the said body,

portion and provided with a shank projecting beyond the body portion and terminating ina transverse head, anda relatively soft labiate portion forminga continuation of the body portion and. embedding the shank and head of the said resilient element.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses. V

ADo rHUs 1 3. GREGG. a. 3. Witnesses: I r i Vic'ron HPGREGG,

D. JOSEPH Cor na.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Coinnii'ssioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

